He jumps out of his seat, swings open the doors on a
wall-mounted whiteboard and begins to scribble...

There is plenty for Mr. Monaco to talk about. But
first, splitting the whiteboard into two columns, he begins to sketch out how
he sees the world. It's a personal mission statement - or, if you like, a
manifesto, in bullet points.

Monaco outlines his view of the new energy world:

"You've got a few unassailable facts," he
says. Canada is highly dependent on exports. Oil makes up 15 per cent of those
exports - "so that's one fact." But those exports are all aimed at a
place that wants fewer and fewer of them. "What you've got is declining U.S.
consumption," he says...

He turns to the second column, and begins to fill it
with words like "consultation." These are his keys to unlocking the
first column.

"The business environment is
different today," he says. "What stakeholders want is not just the
economic value of capital investment. They want you to build and develop energy
on a sustainable basis." Because, he says, "it's not just about the
money."

He addresses the opposition to the
Northern Gateway project:

Which leads to an obvious question: Northern Gateway,
in particular, is ripe with opportunities for things to go wrong. Even if it
gains regulatory approval, it's certain to be legally challenged and then, in
all likelihood, confronted by protesters chaining themselves to equipment.

"So basically, what you're asking is - why bother
with the project?" he says. "Let's look at it this way: what if we
didn't do the project? We'd be letting down our customers. We'd be letting down
the provincial governments. We'd be letting down the federal government. I
think we'd actually let down all Canadians."

And he says Enbridge wants to form
"partnerships"with stakeholders:

In any case, as Enbridge looks to the future, it
intends to start speaking sooner with people along its routes, and Mr. Monaco
talks about treating projects like "partnerships" with those whose
land Enbridge has long dug up, and occasionally expropriated, to build
pipelines. He wants more local workers to carry the company flag: "Our
best ambassadors are our employees that live in the communities," he says.

As for Gateway, he doesn't have a
ready answer. There may be a Supreme Court battle. There may be protesters. But
he intends to press on. "Look," he says, "if it takes longer, it
takes longer."

Monaco's key concepts:

These are the key concepts I took
away from the Monaco interview: unassailable facts; stakeholders; consultation;
and partnership.

But what was missing from this
interview were a few other "unassailable facts". Unless Enbridge
comes to grips with these
unassailable facts, its Northern Gateway project is doomed to failure, as are
other attempts to lay pipe westwards.

Chunking the Problem:

A key way to solve any problem is to
break it down into several major chunks, and deal with each in turn. And each
such major chunk needs to be further chunkized, into smaller chunks, so that
they too can be dealt with.

The problem of digging up the tar
sands, and moving the heavy oil through pipelines and tankers to thirsty energy
markets, can be broken down into the following major chunks:

1.The oil industry (and
fossil fuel industry in general) has broken the social contract with the citizens
of America and Canada.

2.In Canada, the federal
government and the provincial governments of Alberta and B.C. have broken the
social contract with the citizens of Canada.

3.The tar sands project
must be dealt with in a holistic way: from tar sands in the ground, to its
transportation, to the use of tankers to ship it to buyers.

Each one of these chunks has to be
dealt with. Each chunk is an "unassailable fact".

The Monaco interview does not show
Enbridge dealing with several of these major chunks.

Unless it does, the
Enbridge story will fall on deaf ears.

The breaching of the social contract between the
fossil fuel industry and citizens:

The oil industry had its
"Katrina moment" with the oil spillage by BP in the Gulf of Mexico,
and not yet recovered from that.

BP – seen by Americans as
representative of the whole oil industry – breached the social contract with
the American citizens through its handling of the spill.

That social contract consisted of a
simple agreement: BP and other oil companies could enter lands belonging to
America's citizens and drill for and extract oil from those lands, provided
that it exercised the utmost good faith in doing so. In legal terms, this is
the duty of uberrima fides.

BP showed incredible ineptitude in
its actual drilling of the well, and a pattern of obfuscation, disinformation
and deceit in its handling of the spill.

For day after relentless day, week
after relentless week, month after relentless month, the Gulf spill revealed an
oil giant blundering through a self-created problem, covering its tracks, being
found out, and then trying another tack to escape responsibility.

But ordinary Americans watched this
debacle each day on television, watched BP spokespersons present their story of
what was happening, and formed their own conclusions: BP did not act with the
utmost good faith in dealing with the property of the American citizens.

This breach of that social contract
simply means that each and every oil company now bears the burden to prove
beyond any reasonable doubt that it is acting in utmost good faith when it
encroaches upon or develops property belonging to the citizens.

This is the standard of care that
Enbridge has to display with its planning for, explanation of, and execution of
the Northern Gateway project. Business as usual does not meet this higher
standard, and will not repair the broken social contract. It is not at all
clear from the Monaco interview that he understands this.

The breaching of the socialcontract between the three governments and
Canadian citizens:

These three levels of government are
the stewards of the public propery that rightfully belongs to the citizens of
Canada. As stewards, their responsibility is to act with the utmost good faith,
as part of the social contract between the governments and the governed.

All three levels have failed this
test with regard to the development of the tar sands.

The social contract between
Canadians and their governments covers not only the exercise of utmost good
faith in the stewardship of public lands, but also the taking of necessary
steps to combat global warming by addressing the issue of the greenhouse gas
emissions from the tar sands.

The Harper government has failed to
address the emissions posed by developing the tar sands in any meaningful way,
due to its small-state ideological mindset. Instead, it has focused on trying
to achieve "efficiency" in the planning and approval process of tar
sands and pipeline projects, as the highest good.

The two provincialgovernments have failed because they have
reduced thediscussion mostly to a dog
in a manger fight over the the sharing of the royalties bone.

All three governments have failed to
address the need to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions through the upgrading
within Canada of the heavy oil from the tar sands.

The holistic treatment of the tar sands oil:

The three governments have failed to
deal with all the aspects of the development of and transportation of the tar
sands heavy oil. They have dealt with parts only, but failed to deal with it as
a seamless project. This has allowed the participants in parts of the overall
project to wash their hands of responsibility for parts they are not party to.

For example, developing tar sands
and moving them by tanker from the B.C. coast clearly is part of the overall
project; however, pipeline companies are on record as saying that they are not
responsible for the problems posed by a tanker spilling heavy oil into the sea
and damaging wildlife, the coast and livelihoods.

Any competent government would have
insisted on such a holistic treatment of the tar sand oil, as part of its duty
of stewardship on behalf of its citizens. And as part of this, such a competent
government would have laid down clear principles governing each and every part
of the holistic project, aimed at protecting the citizens first and foremost.
This has not been done.

The inevitable reaction is now seen.

There is a threat by some First
Nations to barricade pipeline routes even if the current government system of
regulatory approval is complied with.

There is a threat by the provincial
NDP to terminate the current agreement with the federal government to allow one
approval process to take place for pipelines crossing B.C., and to take back
that approval so that the province can make sure that its concerns about the
whole project are addressed.

And there is the threat by the mayor
of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, to use the permitting powers of a municipality
to insist that any oil project within the city's boundaries carry sufficient
insurance to cover the costs of a catastrophic oil spill that damages miles of
pristine coastline and harms local livelihoods.

These are things that happen when
social contracts with citizens are breached.

Some further hints for Enbridge:

Enbridge will need to widen its
definition of the stakeholders in the
Northern Gateway project to include those who would be affected by any
spillage of oil from a tanker off the coast of B.C. Such a risk is an integral
part of the holistic tar sands development, and dealing with that risk is part
of the burden of all parties involved in the tar sands, not just the tanker
companies.

Enbridge will also need to widen its
definition of the "partnership" Monaco talks about to much more than
the "limited partnership" concept currently favoured by most oil
companies. For example, a "full partnership" extends far beyond an
oil company simply providing for jobs for the First Nations during the
construction and operation of a new pipeline.

Enbridge will also need to deal with
what steps need tobe taken to reduce
the greenhouse gas emissions of the oil from the tar sands, both during the
extraction process and during the use of the oil by the ultimate buyers.

One way for Enbridge to do this is
to reconsider who gets what from the pipeline. It can insist on its current
plans, in which case Enbridge will most likely earn 100% of nothing.

Or it can decide to take 80% of
something, and gift the remaining 20% - split equally – to the First Nations,
for their use, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build alternatives to
the use of fossil fuel energy (green energy).

3 comments
:

You've got it. Fabulous.The idea that a public resource is privatized for it's stakeholders is one of the most insidious and destructive forces. Corporations work for their stakeholders and fail if they do not make decisions for the benefit of those stakeholders. But oceans and air and water and forests are not for corporations' stakeholders. They are for the common good - we all hold a stake in their protection. But Enbridge doesn't include the public as a stakeholder; it's a private company. And there lies the destructive force that must be opposed. If we privatize oil, we privatize water and then we're lost.Thanks again!

What nonsense falls from the lips of these vultures.. and to think that our so called 'government' parrot squawk birds drool-excrete the same sanctimonious economic dreary theory. Why not cut to the chase and admit the theory and oily in situ lack of ethics are based on their stock options and related portfolios.. and dreams of multiple board of directorships.

Brilliant analysis and essay .. should be required reading, front page of mainstream media and in schools, legislature.. keep up the incredible work !

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